Nine months into the second Donald Trump presidency, a majority of Americans strongly oppose his hard-line crime-crackdown policies, including sending military forces into U.S. cities. For the second year in a row, Americans also see crime as less serious overall.
“Americans as a whole lean toward moderation in the use of law enforcement to combat crime,” and “now view national crime conditions more favorably than at any point in recent years,” according to two Gallup studies published Thursday.
During the 2024 campaign, President Trump ran on reducing crime. Despite tremendous opposition from the left, and rather than funding initiatives to address the causes of crime, he has deployed the National Guard to several Democratic-led cities while battling in court for the right to do so. The President has repeatedly, and increasingly, cited the Insurrection Act, claiming he has the authority to invoke it and stating that the courts would do nothing to stop him.
**Focus on Social Issues vs. Strengthening Law Enforcement**
Gallup highlights the clearest indication of Americans’ approach to crime fighting through a question asking whether more government money and effort should go toward addressing some of the societal problems that may lead to crime or toward strengthening law enforcement.
Currently, 67% favor focusing on “addressing social and economic problems such as drug addiction, homelessness, and mental health,” while only 29% believe more resources should be devoted to “strengthening law enforcement.”
**Opposition to Militarized Responses**
Gallup also reports that Americans’ resistance to vigorous law enforcement is evident in their opposition to deploying troops from either the National Guard or the U.S. military to control crime in cities.
In recent days, Trump has threatened to deploy not only the National Guard but also other branches of the Armed Forces. “I could send the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, I could, say, send anybody I wanted,” Trump said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, he told reporters: “You know, people don’t care if we send in our military, if we send in our National Guard, if we send in Space Command, they don’t care who the hell it is.” He added, “Really, we could do as we want to do.”
However, according to Gallup, most Americans say the issue does matter to them. Reporting that “most U.S. adults oppose militarized responses to urban crime,” Gallup found that 60% of Americans are against sending military troops to cities to control crime, and 56% oppose sending National Guard troops to U.S. cities.
**Public Inclination Toward Moderate, Preventive Approaches**
Gallup’s findings show a broader public inclination toward moderate, preventive approaches to crime reduction over stringent sentencing and enforcement, especially at a time when Americans are less concerned about the crime problem than they have been in recent years.
Gallup is not alone in its reporting. Earlier this month, CNN reported that a CBS News-YouGov poll showed Americans opposed Trump’s decision to deploy the Guard to U.S. cities by 58%-42%. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed 55%-42% disapproval of Trump’s use of the Guard and federal law enforcement to reduce crime. Additionally, NPR-Ipsos polling in recent weeks showed fewer than four in ten Americans supported Trump’s decisions to deploy the Guard to Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee.
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https://www.rawstory.com/trump-crime-2674251740/
